 Greetings, friends. Welcome to CTUCC Conference Cast for June 21st, 2012, the regular podcast of the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ. Whoever you are, and wherever you may be on life's journey at this very moment, you are welcome here. We begin this week's conference cast with this meditation from Charlie Kuchenbrod, Associate Conference Minister for Endowment Ministries. Charlie's text is short, simple, and comes right from the very first words of the Bible in Genesis. In the beginning. How do we know that God is a baseball fan? Because the Bible starts in the big inning. In the art of fielding, a novel, Chad Harbach offers this description of what it means to be a coach. He already knew he could coach. All you had to do was look at each of your players and ask yourself, what story does this guy wish someone would tell him about himself? And then you told the guy that story. You told it with a hint of doom. You included his flaws. You emphasized the obstacles that could prevent him from succeeding. That is what made the story epic. The player, the hero, had to suffer mightily and root to his final triumph. Schwartz knew that people loved to suffer, as long as the suffering made sense. Everybody suffered. The key was to choose the form of your suffering. Most people couldn't do this alone. A good coach made you suffer in a way that suited you. A bad coach made everyone suffer in the same way, and so was more like a torturer. This reflection on coaching made me think about God. Here is a short summary of my understanding of God. First, God is. Second, God loves us unconditionally. Third, God yearns for what is best for us. Us means all of us, indeed all of creation. So when God loves us, God loves all of us. No exceptions. And when God yearns for what is best for us, it is not just what is best for us, each individually. It is what is best for all of us. God doesn't yearn for anything that is best for only one of us, when this would not also be best for all of us. So even though I do not think God is a person, it wasn't too much of a stretch for me to imagine God as a coach. I don't want to get tangled up in whether God wills us to suffer, but I don't think so. I think in the midst of whatever suffering we encounter, God yearns for us to find the best way through the suffering, and for our suffering to have meaning. I think that God is a good coach, and that God yearns for each of us to find a way that suits us. I think there are bad theological perspectives that turn God into a torturer. Perspectives that force all, or all but the elect, to suffer in the same way. I can't accept this because God loves all of us. God yearns for each of us to be the heroes of our own story. What is the story you wish someone would tell about you? What is the story of the good coach yearns for you to live out? Here is a prayer for this week. Dear God, help me to find my way, the way that suits me and suits all of creation. Amen. In the news this week, Faith Congregational Church UCC in Hartford observed its tradition of recognizing the ministry of all men in the church on Father's Day last weekend, and welcomed UCC general minister and president the Reverend Joffrey Black to their pulpit. He greatly enjoyed the congregation's warmth when they spent quite a bit of time greeting each other during the service. Thank you, thank you to myself. How they loved one another. Boy, this place is here. Thank you. During a special moment in worship, Hartford educator Al Collins, a member of the church, urged men to take up their roles as parents and caregivers. I will about you leg and time driving in the streets of Hartford and finding little candle monuments sitting on the sidewalks. These are all our children. We need your help as educators. We need your help because we need to stop parents from burying their children. In his sermon, based on the anointing of David by Samuel, Joffrey Black urged the worshipers to dig deeper than what seems plain. Our God is full of surprises. Thus, the will of God is not always what we would assume it to be. So, if we want to do God's will, it is important for us to stop and to look to discern and to look beneath the surface to the heart. Look beneath the surface to the heart. That's the message. That's it. You got it. The Kensington Congregational Church UCC turns 300 years old this December, and last Saturday the church grounds took on some of the appearance of their early years as colonial costumes appeared in a Revolutionary War encampment. Reenactors included members of the 5th Connecticut Regiment and His Majesty's 54th Foot, as well as Dan Newman's portrayal of an 18th century surgeon. Three months ago in March, the congregation enjoyed a Sunday morning historic skit which swept through the centuries from the church's foundation to the second church of Farmington down to the present day. Further activities will include visits to historic sites around New England, a church picnic this summer, and a reunion service with members of the first church in Farmington. You'll find photos both from Faith and the Kensington Churches on our website and a tribute to the life and ministry of the Reverend James Kidd, who served the Asylum Hill Congregational Church for 19 years. For all the current headlines, visit us at ctucc.org slash news. National Youth Event attendees have an orientation session on June 26th here in Hartford. The UCC Musicians National Network Conference is June 22nd through 25th in Kansas City. The National Youth Event itself runs July 10th through 13th at Purdue University. The Craigville Colloquy, featuring William McKinney on the Gospel Unbound in the Mainline Churches, runs July 16th through 20th. United Black Christians hold their 20th convocation here in Hartford, July 25th through 28th. The UCC Musicians Association Conference is July 29th through August 2nd in Burlington, Vermont. And Praxis 21, the Center for Progressive Renewals National Church Leadership Institute, is August 8th through 10th in Decatur, Georgia. You can always find out what's coming up in the Connecticut Conference at ctucc.org slash events. And that brings this conference cast to a close. Thanks to Charlie Kuchenrod for his reflection and to GarageBand for our music. Primary funding for conference cast comes from your congregation's gifts to our church's wider mission, Basic Support, changing lives through the United Church of Christ. This is Eric Anderson, the Minister of Communications and Technology for the Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ, praying that your days this week may be filled with the presence, the guidance, and the grace of God.